


Heroes

by mysteryninja98



Category: Star Wars, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: DameRey, Drabbles, F/M, Wise words from the man himself
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-21
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2019-02-17 21:19:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13085571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mysteryninja98/pseuds/mysteryninja98
Summary: "Underneath titles and faces, we’re still just hearts beating for the same cause, fighters rebelling against the same threat, people looking towards a brighter future."Rey doesn't think she belongs in a world where she's considered a hero. Poe thinks otherwise.





	Heroes

**Author's Note:**

> Oh look, I have a new ship. And it's not the Millennium Falcon.

It was times like these, when she was standing in a parade float in clothes a lot nicer than her usual garb, that Rey felt overwhelmed.

It was the lights from the city and the float clashing – muted against bright and neon – and the faint garble of the city’s population competing against the much louder, much nearer rattle and clatter of exasperated workers trying to get everything in order.

And while it helped a little bit that General Organa was on the floating car ahead of her, occasionally glancing back to catch Rey’s eye and make sure she was okay; it was the man beside her that kept her from running back to Jakku to escape it all. He always seemed to know when it got to be too much for her or when her thoughts turned the wrong way, and usually all it took was a warm smile to make her melt into the brown eyes that bore into her, grounding her.

But not this time. Because this time it was different. It wasn’t just the sensory overload this time, it was that combined with the heavy feeling and guilty thoughts that had plagued her ever since she found out the parade was being thrown in her honor.

As soon as she started to think about it again, she felt his hand on her arm, encouraging her to look up at him.

When she met his brown eyes, he frowned and sat her down on the bench that they weren’t supposed to use. But since they hadn’t actually started moving yet, he figured it would be okay.

Poe leaned in close so that they had the privacy of soft conversation in the middle of the chaotic last-minute activities going on around them.

“What’s wrong?”

Rey chewed on her lip, looking at the ground before swallowing. “Why are we here?”

Poe raised his eyebrows before looking amused. “Well, I guess it would be a little rude to skip out on your own parade.”

“I mean why are we even having a parade? The war is still going on. There are still people out there fighting, I guess I just don’t really see the practicality of it all. The pomp and circumstance seems out of place. It seems almost _wrong_.”

Poe shrugged. “It’s not unusual for something like this to happen during hard times. I guess it’s a symbol meant for the people to tell them no matter how bad things are, they aren’t bad enough to where they can’t be happy. That’s the point of these things. They make people happy, lift their spirits. Besides, it’s not every day they get to see the hero of the galaxy up close,” he said, half-teasing because while he thought she was a hero too, he knew she hated it when people called her that, “Especially not right after she saved their planet nearly single-handedly.”

Rey blushed slightly, even though her frown deepened. “But that’s the thing. I don’t feel like a hero, Poe. I feel like a fraud. I’m nobody, just a scavenger from Jakku. I’m no hero. Not like you or General Organa.”

Poe took her chin in his hand and made her look at him again. “Rey, if there’s any one person who deserves to be called a hero, it’s you. You defied Kylo Ren, you brought Luke Skywalker back, sort of, but most importantly, you helped when you didn’t have to. And you helped in a big way. Your face is known as that of the hero of the Resistance.”

“But does it really mean anything if I can’t live up to those expectations?”

“Yes,” Poe answered firmly, “it definitely does. Because your story is being told all around the galaxy, and it doesn’t matter if you feel like a hero or not, because that’s what you are to them. That’s what they know you as. Listen to them out there,” he said, looking towards the closed bay doors that separated them from thousands of people waiting to see their savior, “You’re their hope. And as long as you keep doing the things you do, you’re going to be the gasoline that’s poured over our spark and makes it a fire. Like it or not, you’ve become a beacon of light and faith and courage. You’ve become a symbol of the Resistance, as much as Leia has and probably even more than I have, if I have to admit it,” he admitted with a playful huff, his voice softening into a slight tease that made Rey’s mouth twitch into the beginnings of a smile.

“How can you guys stand it, all of the recognition and pressure?”

“It’s hard. But I think of the end goal, I think of what’s going to come out of all this and it makes it worth it. It keeps me going. Because recognition or not, we’re all still fighting for the same thing – me, Leia, you, the technician that works on the first floor of our smallest base, even the civilians that take in the injured when we need them to. Underneath titles and faces, we’re still just hearts beating for the same cause, fighters rebelling against the same threat, people looking towards a brighter future. We’re all heroes, some of us are just better known than others. And the pressure makes you want to be the person they see, it makes you want to stand tall and proud and brave. And it does. It makes a world of difference on your level of performance when you know you’ve got people depending on you, people looking to you to show them the reason they’re still fighting. And if makes any difference at all, you'll always be a hero in my eyes, no matter who's expectations you live up to, because mine are just for you to be you.”

Rey looked pensively at the ground before smiling up at Poe. He was such a good man, so full of life and love and hope and apparently wisdom.

“Thank you. I guess I can stand to learn a lot from you and all of your wise words, you old man,” she teased with a red face, not really used to the interaction she had with Poe. But he just winked back with a silly grin on his face.

“I’m young enough to still have what it takes to hold the attention of a beautiful girl long enough to convince her to like me,” he said, leaning down to give her a gentle kiss. Rey sighed and internally swooned. She’d never know what it was she did to attract a man like Poe Dameron.

“I guess you aren’t _that_ old,” she conceded, pecking him once more before standing up and pulling him with her as the workers signaled that the bay doors were opening.

When the city came to view with people standing on rooftops and waving Resistance flags and chanting their names, Rey felt what it was Poe had been talking about. She felt her spirits being lifted, she felt the hope that radiated off of the saved people, and she wanted to be the hero that they saw her as.

She took Poe’s hand in hers, using the other to wave as she had been taught and they smiled at each other before turning outwards towards the people.

Heroes they were, and heroes they would be.


End file.
